Textile strengthener

ABSTRACT

AN IMPROVED TEXTILE STRENGTHENING AGENT WHICH RENDERS TEXTILES SUCH AS NYLON STOCKINGS AND THE LIKE, STRONGER AND MORE DURABLE. THE STRENGTHENING AGENT CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF A PLASTIC EMULSION CONTAINING POLYETHYLENE AND AN ACRYLIC COMPOUND, A CATIONIC AGENT AND AT LEAST ONE SOLUBLE CHELATE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ZINC AND ZIRCONIUM METAL CHELATES. THE STRENGTHENING AGENT IS PREPARED AND THEN ADDED IN CONTROLLED AMOUNTS TO THE WATER IN WHICH THE TEXTILE IS TO BE WASHED OR OTHERWISE TREATED.

United States Patent 3,784,497 TEXTILE STRENGTHENER Julius F. T. Berliner, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Hosiery Mate Company, Chicago Ill N0 Drawing. Filed Dec. 8, 1971, Ser. No. 206,135 Int. Cl. C08f 29/12 US. Cl. 26029.6 XA 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a strengthening agent which can be used to increase the life of textile items such as nylon hosiery, knit hosiery and other textile articles; and more specifically, to a unique chemical composition for the strengthening agent which imparts the desired characteristics to the textile article being treated therewith.

Numerous textile strengthening agents have been disclosed for treating textile items made from nylon, rayon, polyester fibers, silk, cotton, etc.;'however, none of these strengtheners have provided the desired combination of properties or imparted long life to the articles being treated. As evidence thereof one need only look at the normal life span of womens nylon hosiery. Numerous patents have been issued claiming improved compositions for treating textiles. For example, see U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,731,364 and 2,994,940 which disclose the treatment of textiles and other fabrics with polyethylene, aqueous dispersions of quaternary ammonium compounds and imid azolines. Products containing polyethylene emulsions, methyl methacrylate, alkyl imidazolines and other additives also have been marketed. These products represented an improvement over the state of the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A new chemical composition for a textile strengthening agent has been discovered whichconsists essentially of a plastic emulsion, which plastic particles are capable of electrostatically adhering to a textile fiber; a cationic or substantive agent for increasing the effectiveness of the electrostatic attraction and at least one metal chelate selected from the group consisting of zinc and zirconium chelates. The preferred plastic emulsion is a polyethylene emulsion wherein the molecular weight of the polyethylene is above 8,000 and the particle size is less than 1.0 micron. The preferred cationic agent is an alkylimidazoline where the alkyl groups are from lauryl to stearyl radials. Other compatible materials can be added in various proportions to enhance the strengthening properties or provide the agent with other desirable properties.

3,784,497 Patented Jan. 8, 1974 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The textile strengthening agent as disclosed herein has been found to increase the strength and prolong the useful life of a textile article treated therewith. The agent thoroughly cleans the article without stiffening or otherwise undesirably altering its inherent characteristics, application and texture. Furthermore, the agent disclosed herein is diluted in an aqueous solution and is such that no rinsing of the item being treated is required after the strengthening treatment.

It is known, as discussed above, that plastic emulsions are desirable for imparting improved properties and characteristics to textile materials. In general, the plastic polymer is employed in the form of an emulsion of fine plastic particles; a substantive cationic agent can be employed to assist the polymer in electrostatically adhering to the textile fiber. Additions of soluble metal chelates have been found effective to enhance and further improve the adherence of the plastic polymer to the textile fiber during washings, between treatments and to further increase the strength of the fiber and its resistance to breakage. The individual constituents of the strengthening agent will hereinafter be described in further detail.

Emulsions A indicated previously, plastic polymers are known to enhance or increase the strength of textile fibers. The plastic is emulsified and the emulsion then diluted in water. The article to be treated in then immersed and washed in the water during which the emulsified plastic particles are attracted to the fiber and electrostatically adhere thereto. In order for the plastic particle to eleclrostatically attach itself to the fiber the emulsion should be strongly cationic or non-ionic. Many diiferent polymer emulsions have been examined and found to electrostatically adhere to the textile fiber. However, several of the polymers produced no apparent strengthening in the. fibers; while others which strengthened the fibers left undesirable residues thereon, which resulted in a stickiness or stifi'ening of the fiber.

The single class of polymers which produced the most acceptable results were the polyethylenes. 0f the various polyethylene compounds which were considered, those having high molecular weights and being non-oxidized were found to be preferable. Typically the molecular weights are above 8,000 and preferably between 15,000 and 30,000. Since we are dealing with emulsified particles which adhereto a textile fiber the particle size is important. Generally, the particle size should be less than 1.0 micron with the particle sizes less than 0.1 micron being deemed preferable. When polyethylene emulsions as described are used in the strengthening agent excellent results have been obtained.

The effectiveness of the polyethylene emulsion can be enhanced by the presence of minor amounts of an acrylic emulsion. Cationic emulsions of polymethyl methacrylate have been found to enhance the strengthening characteristics of the polyethylene emulsion. It should be noted that use of the acrylic emulsion alone has little if any effect on strengthening or improving the fiber characteristics. The effectiveness of the minor additions of the acrylic emulsion have been synergistic in that when used with the high molecular weight fine particle size polyethylene the strengthening results have been improved beyond expectation.

Cationic agent As previously indicated, certain agents are desirably employed for enhancing the attraction between the plastic particle and the textile fiber. These agents are classified as substantive and must be compatible with the emulsion. It has been found that substantial agents which are cationic are compatible with the emulsions of this invention; furthermore, it is required that the cationic agent be non-toxic and does not irritate the users skin.

A simple test was employed to determine the effect of the cationic agent, which test comprised preparing a solution of the emulsion and the cationic agent to be tested and then observing the rate of clearing of a dilute solution of the emulsion. The faster the solution cleared and the greater amount of clarity indicated the speed and effectiveness of the cationic agent. The most effective cationic agents found are the alkyl imidazolines (alkyl glyoxalines) where the alkyl groups were lauryl to stearyl radials.

Several other effective cationic agents were found which could be used by themselves. However, they are more effective in supplementing the activity of the alkyl imidazolines and in contributing further detergency, antiseptic activity and anti-static action. These other compounds include:

Ditmer benzyl n-alkyl ammonium chloride Dimethyl ethyl-benzyl n-alkyl ammonium chloride Trimethyl n-alkyl ammonium chloride Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate Cetyl pyridinium chloride.

Metal chelates It has been discovered that the addition of certain metal containing compounds to the emulsion and cationic agent produces unexpectedly enhanced results. The metal containing compounds appear to cause anenhanced retention of the plastic polymer to the fiber; as a result of this retention the fiber exhibits increased strengthening and better resistance to thread breakage.

Small, but effective additions of soluble salts of zirconium and zinc yield these enhanced results. Unfortunately, the cationic substantive agents tend to cause these metals to precipitate thereby rendering them ineffective.

In order to avoid this undesirable precipitation and yet obtain the benefits of the metal action soluble zinc and zirconium chelates have been successfully employed. The chelates can be prepared and then added to the emulsion or may be formed in situ.

The effective chelating agents include disodium ethylene diamine tetracetate (EDTA Na and disodium nitriloacetate (NTA N32). In this form the chelating agent can be first added to the emulsion with the soluble metal salt being added thereafter so as to form the soluble chelate in situ.

It has been found to be more effective to add the previously formed soluble metal chelate to the emulsion. When such additions are made zinc and zirconium EDTA Na have been found to be more stable than the corresponding NTA N32 compounds. Zn EDTA Na is the most preferable compound because of its commercial availability, stability and solubility. In its commercial form Zn EDTA Na is a dihydrate, white, crystalline, water-soluble powder containing about zinc by weight.

Composition In its prepared form the composition of the strengthening agent should be within the ranges set forth in the table below.

Constituent: Range, percentage by wt. Polyethylene emulsion (40% by wt.) 34-48 Acrylic emulsion (50% by wt.) 1-7 Cationic agent (50% by wt.) 4-14 Metal chelate 0.1-2.5 Water, balance to equal Other additional ingredients or modifiers which are not essential to the agent but which enhance other properties may be added to the emulsion. For example, a cationic agent effective for detergency, anti-static, deodoring and the like is dimethylbenzyl lauryl ammonium chloride, 50% by weight, would be present in the range from about l5%. Thickening agents, foam stabilizers, and detergent supplements such as dilauric acid amide can be present from 1-5%. To reduce the drying and crumbling action at the mouth of the bottle polyethylene glycol or propylene glycol up to 7% may be used. To contribute softness, better skin care and lubricity of the fibers ethylene oxide solubilized lanoline from l7% may be added. Perfume of the type which would be electrostatically attracted to the fiber can be used up to 1%. In addition to these aforementioned items optical brightening agents and the like can also be added.

To wash a textile item a dilute solution of the agent is squeezed through the item a number of times. The item is then wrung dry to remove the excess liquid. No final rinsing is required. It has been noted that after some five or six washings distinct increases in strength of the item can be noted as well as improved wear and greater snagging and breakage resistance of the threads.

The following example is presented so as to more specifically illustrate the present invention.

Example A typical composition which can be prepared in a 100 to 1 dilution will be presented hereinafter. This particular dilution is very useful commercially since it represents the addition of one 28 mm. capful of agent (10 cc.) to a quart of water (1000 cc.). Thus the agent has been prepared with this ultimate dilution in mind. The following compounds are mixed in the indicated concentrations to provide the desired agent:

Volume, percent Emulsion of high molecular weight polyethylene with non-ionic emulsifier and particle size near 0.1 micron (40% solids by weight) 40.0 Lauryl irnidazoline 9.0 Polymethylmethacrylate emulsion (50% solids by weight) 4.5 Zinc disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate dihydrate (as 20% by weight solution in water) 1.0 Dimethylbenzyl lauryl ammonium chloride 50% by weight (cationic agent for detergency, antistatic and deodorizing) 3.5 Dialauric acid amide, 100% (thickening agent,

foam stabilizer, detergent supplement) 3.0 Polyethylene glycol (for reducing drying and crumbling at bottle mouth) 4.0 Ethylene oxide solubilized lanoline (for softness and better hand and fiber lubricity) 3.0 Perfume 0.5-

Water 31.5

A womans nylon stocking which is immersed in the solution and then washed as described above exhibits improved strengthening.

It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

5 6 What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters 2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the acrylic Patent of the United States is: ester polymer is poly(methyl methacrylate).

1. A textile strengthening agent consisting essentially, in weight percent, of: References Cited (2.) from 34% to 48% polyethylene emulsion; 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS from 1% t0 7% acrylic CStGI' polymer emulsion; 2 731 3 4 1 195 et a1 (c) from 4% to 14% cationic agent, wherein said cat- 2,994,940 8/1961 F rell t a1. 28 -74 ionic agent is at least one compound selected from 3,2333; 4; 1966 Shippee 117-439.; h f 1 d d 3,4 ,00 9 1968 Perrino 8-1l5. t e group Cows mg auryl am we ecy 10 3,503,913 3/1970 Lynch et a1. 260-28.5

imidazoline, myristylimidazoline and stearylimidazo- 11116; WILLIAM H. SHORT, Primary Examiner (d) an efiective amount of at least one water soluble NIELSEN, Assistant Examiner metal chelate wherein the metal is selected from the 15 group consisting of zinc and zirconium; with ater comprising the balance. 117-1395 A, 161 UH; 26029.6 RB 

